Back to You: A Niall Horan Fan Fiction

Chapter 1: The Dare

Prologue

"I dare you to kiss the next boy you see," he repeated. "Unless you're too scared or something," he said, waggling his eyebrows. She narrowed her eyes and gave him a pointed look.

"No, I am not scared," she growled, raising her chin defiantly. 

 He smirked back down at her. "Good then. Now just go over there and look at that nice display shelf. Pick out a pastry, on me of course, and act natural. Just wait until you make eye-contact with someone and I'm going to walk away. How embarrassing for both of us if you had to kiss me!"

He faked a look of disgust and shooed her to the back. She rolled her eyes and mumbled, "This will never work. I bet you're the only guy in here!"

He grinned and knocked her shoulder while walking away. She sighed and began to examine the assortment of desserts with faked interest. She was biding her time until she could look up, see no one, and safely escape the dare. Just as she was about to pick a cheese danish, she felt a finger on her shoulder and a pleasant Irish voice said, "Hi," behind her.

Well that was fast, she thought to herself as she turned around. But as her eyes met the stranger's brilliant blue ones, she felt a thrill, an unpleasant one, run through her.

"Oh shit," she whispered.

Chapter 1: The Dare 

*One hour earlier

"Remind me why I let you tag along with me?" Soleil asked, looking up at her friend Danny. "We've been in Ireland for five minutes and you're already on my nerves." She swiped her hair loosely behind her ear and sighed. "How is it that you're always hungry?"

Danny scoffed down at her. "How is it that you never think you're hungry but whenever we find food you eat twice as much as me? And how do you manage to stay perfectly fit and thin as a stick?" He glanced down at his large torso in mock-sadness. "Why do you hate me?" He fake- cried, leaning on Soleil's shoulder.

She patted his shoulder sympathetically. "There, there," she said. "Monster-truck sized gay men need love too."

He snapped his head away from her shoulder and glared down at her. "Who are you calling monster-truck sized? You wound me Soleil, you wound me." He placed his hands over his heart in a display of anguish.

"Come on, Romeo, let's go find you some food," Soleil responded, grabbing one of his meaty hands with her tiny one.

They walked along the streets of Mullingar, Ireland, breathing in the country air and marveling at the sights. It was a beautiful August day, the perfect start to Soleil's gap year abroad. Danny would be with her for a week in Mullingar, but then he would be traveling to Dublin to visit relatives before returning to the states to attend Berkeley in September. Soleil and Danny had been friends since second grade, and she'd miss him once he left, but she was also anxious to be on her own.

She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts by a tugging on her arm. "Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?" Danny asked irritably.

Soleil shook her head. "I'm sorry, I was just thinking," she murmured apologetically.

He grinned back at her. "Thinking about a certain blond Irish band member?" He asked.

She slapped his arm. "No!" She replied, heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Hey now, don't try to hide it from me," Danny said. "I already listened to you fangirl over him for hours on the plane ride over here." He donned a high-pitched falsetto voice. "Isn't Niall just soooo cute? I wish I could meet him. I wonder what he's doing right now? Is he with the rest of One Direction? Are they getting ready for their new tour? I just love him so much! I want to have his children! Oh Niall!" Danny yelled, spreading his arms out wide.